Rasputin | |
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Nice Peter as Rasputin | |
Character information | |
Birth name | Григорий Ефимович Распутин (pronounced Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin) |
Nickname(s) | The Mad Monk Father Grigori The Holy Devil |
Born | January 21, 1869 Pokrovskoye, Tobolsk Governorate, Siberia, Russian Empire |
Died | December 30, 1916 (aged 47) St. Petersburg, Russia |
Physical description | |
Hair | Brown |
Eyes | Blue |
Based on | |
Rap battle information | |
Appeared in | Rasputin vs Stalin |
Vs | Joseph Stalin Vladimir Lenin Mikhail Gorbachev Vladimir Putin |
Release date | April 22, 2013 |
Official vote(s) | 34% (Old poll from ERB Website) |
Location(s) | Flames and smoke A Bolshevik propaganda poster Bolt-shaped neon signs A disco hall |
Cameo information | |
Appeared in | Alexander the Great vs Ivan the Terrible |
During | Ivan the Terrible's first verse |
Location(s) | Red Square |
“ | Try messin' with the Mad Monk, you'll be sorry, yo!
— Rasputin
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” |
Rasputin battled Joseph Stalin preceding Vladimir Lenin, Mikhail Gorbachev, and Vladimir Putin in Rasputin vs Stalin. He also made a cameo appearance through reused footage in Alexander the Great vs Ivan the Terrible. He was portrayed by Nice Peter on both occasions.
Information on the rapper
Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin (Russian: Григорий Ефимович Распутин) was born on January 21st, 1869, in the village of Pokrovskoye in Siberia, Russia. Little is known about his early life, but local archival records suggest that his youth was disorderly and disruptive. He apparently had no respect for local authorities and was frequently engaged in petty theft and heavy drinking. At age 19, he wed Proskovia Fyodorovna, and they later had seven children, of which only three survived to adulthood.
In 1897, Rasputin left his home and went on a pilgrimage for reasons that are unclear. He is said to have made brief visits to the Holy Znamensky Monastery at Abalak and Tobolsk's cathedral, but he was particularly transformed by a visit to St. Nicholas Monastery at Verkhoturye in 1897. He may have stayed there for several months, possibly learning how to read and write, but later came to hate monastic life for its strictness and the monks for engaging in homosexual activities. Rasputin returned a changed man from his pilgrimage, appearing more disheveled, swearing off alcohol, adopting a vegetarian diet, and singing and praying more frequently. Rasputin later lived the life of a wandering pilgrim, often being out of town for months and years at a time, and possibly even visiting Mount Athos in 1900.
Rasputin gradually developed a reputation as a holy man and miracle worker. Peasants often flocked to the chapel he built for secret prayer meetings. Many villagers, however, were more hostile and suspicious, as he was rumored to have been part of a sect deemed heretical by the Russian Orthodox Church known as the Khlysty. This contrast in reputation continued when he travelled to Kazan sometime in 1904 or 1905, as rumors swirled that he was having sex with his female followers. Through connections he developed with certain clergymen in the Russian Orthodox Church who were close to the Imperial family, Rasputin later arranged to be taken to Saint Petersburg. He made his first trip in 1903, but he was not introduced to the Imperial family until his second journey in 1905. The Imperial family, who were very much interested in the supernatural, soon became convinced that Rasputin had miraculous healing powers.
In 1907, Rasputin was invited to see Tsesarevich Alexei, son of Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra, who suffered from hemophilia and was experiencing painful bleeding after an injury. Rasputin was seemingly able to provide Alexei with some relief through prayer. Alexei made a brief recovery from his hemophilia and Rasputin subsequently won the respect of Alexandra as she came to believe that he was a man of God due to his apparent healing powers. Modern theories, however, suggest that Alexei's apparent recovery was due to the fact that Rasputin prohibited the doctors from administering aspirin to Alexei as aspirin is now known to prevent blood clotting. Nevertheless, the belief that Rasputin had such healing powers strengthened his connections to the imperial family.
Rasputin's relationship with the Imperial family did not go without criticism. Through his relationship with them he was able to exert considerable influence. Furthermore, Rasputin continued his promiscuity and alcoholism and was accused of heresy and rape on multiple occasions. As Russia entered World War I, Rasputin predicted that calamity would befall the country. Nicholas II took command of the Russian Army in 1915, while Alexandra took responsibility for domestic policy. Always Rasputin's defender, she dismissed ministers who were said to be suspicious of the "mad monk". Government officials tried to warn her of Rasputin's undue influence, but she continued to defend him, giving the impression that Rasputin was her closest adviser and leading to rumors that they were having an affair.
On December 29th, 1916, a group of conspirators, including the czar's first cousin, Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich, and Prince Felix Yusupov, invited Rasputin to Moika palace with the goal of killing him, in the hopese that assassinating him would end his corrupting influence over the Imperial family. Yusupov's memoirs described how he fed him wine and cakes laced with cyanide, but the poison seemed to have no effect, perhaps because the chef had a change of heart and decided to swap the poison for a more harmless substance. Baffled, but not deterred, the conspirators repeatedly beat and finally shot Rasputin several times. He was wrapped in a carpet and thrown into the Neva River, only to be discovered three days later. An autopsy revealed that there was water in Rasputin's lungs at the time of his death, and it was concluded that he died by drowning at the age of 47 on December 30th, 1916, in St. Petersburg, Russia.
While his detractors may have gotten rid of Rasputin, his influence remained. Shortly before his death, Rasputin wrote to Nicholas that if he were killed by any member of the Imperial family, the entire Imperial family would lose their throne and be killed by the Russian people. His prophecy came true fifteen months later, when the czar, his wife, and all of their children were murdered by Bolshevik revolutionaries after they lost their thrones. Since during his life, Rasputin had served as a scapegoat for people to direct their criticism of the czar and his rule, Rasputin's death gave people free reign to directly criticize the czar and his government, hastening the collapse of the Russian Empire.
Appearance in the rap battle (cameo)
Rasputin, alongside Mikhail Baryshnikov, Vladimir Lenin, Mikhail Gorbachev, Vladimir Putin, and Joseph Stalin, appeared in Red Square during the line in Ivan the Terrible's first verse, "I'm the first Tsar of all of Russia!"
Lyrics
Cool mustache, Wario.
Try messing with the Mad Monk, you'll be sorry, yo!
How many dictators does it take
To turn an empire into a union of ruinous states?
It's a disgrace what you did to your own people!
Your daddy beat you like a dog and now you're evil!
You're from Georgia, sweet Georgia,
And the history books unfold ya
As a messed up mutha fucka bent in the mind
Who built a superpower, but he paid the price
With the endless destruction of Russian lives!
If you're the man of steel, I spit kryptonite!
Big dick mystic, known to hypnotize!
I can end you with a whisper to your wife.
Scrapped lyrics
Come on, bring it on, I'm ready to start brawlin'
I don't mean to Russia, but you just seem like you're Stalin
You're just five-foot-four but your failure's epic-sized
You're doing worse in this battle than the farms you collectivized
I'll beat you past the point my magic powers can heal
Man of Steel? You fat pig, more like Man of Squeal
I'll hand your Georgian ass a true Russian defeat
You would think I'm making borscht the way I'm crushing these beats
I was poisoned, shot and beaten and I still fought back like no sweat
I'm so hard to kill, my rap name should be 50 Kopek
I was shot and poisoned, my assassin's plot: sadistic
But that couldn't stop the mystic, if you think you can, you're optimistic.
Trivia
- He is the only rapper in his battle who was never a political leader.
Gallery
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